Instead of benefiting consumers, oil companies have benefited
Statement by AKEL C.C. Spokesperson Giorgos Koukoumas
12 March 2022, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia
The government may have announced a reduction in the excise tax on fuel, but prices have increased instead of dropping. AKEL had warned from the podium of Parliament that if immediate, sweeping and drastic controls on fuel prices were not imposed from the outset, then instead of consumers benefiting from the measure announced, oil companies would be the ones to benefit.
- How is it possible that the government announces a reduction in consumer tax, but people don’t see any reduction in prices anywhere?
- How is it possible that overnight all companies’ fuel prices have increased simultaneously and uniformly?
- When were orders put for the cargoes, when did the ships arrive, when were they priced, when were they taxed and when did the fuel go to the stations?
- Who – if not the government – was supposed to control prices and profiteering?
If there is no will on the part of the government to exercise any real control and to stand up to powerful private interests, then even the inadequate measures it is announcing will prove to be worthless.
This is precisely what AKEL is urging the government to do, and at the same time, we recall the package of proposals submitted by AKEL regarding fuel, which includes the imposition of a cap and the abolition of double taxation on fuel.
